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Sunday, July 31, 2011

A few days ago we had the pleasure of meeting Joan and seeing her beautiful home. Joan and her husband, Dan, have been restoring an old farmhouse in the New Hampshire countryside. If you have ever read Joan's blog you know that her house is beautiful. From the moment I first saw photos of her home I fell in love with it. A lot of times when I have something built up in my head when I see it in "real life" it never quite holds up to the vision I had of it. That was NOT the case with Joan's home. It seems hard to imagine, but it was truly even more stunning than it looks in her photographs. Each and every room is finished to perfection and her attention to detail is just incredible. I can truly say that it is by far the most beautifully decorated home I have ever been inside. I want to go back again and have more time to slowly go through each room (we had Lillie and Lola in tow so I didn't get to take in the details). My artist side is dying to go back and spend hours admiring each space!

Joan and her dog Ella, who Lillie adored, were so gracious in having us and made us feel so welcome. And she even had gifts for the girls. She gave Lola this antique children's plate with the alphabet on it. I can't wait to display it in her room when we get home.

I hope you all are having a blessed Sunday! I will be back hopefully tomorrow (depending on how much I get done today) with the Jane Austen party pictures and the winner of the Je T'aime pillow cover!

Thursday, July 28, 2011

We figured it was time for another giveaway! We have been busy working on our pillows for fall. We currently have the Jane Austen Silhouette (facing both right and left so you can have two facing each other) and Girl Reading Silhouette pillows printed as well as the Je T'aime pillow in the 12" by 16" size and the 12" by 24" size as well. Now we are working on getting several other designs printed including ones with Silent Night, Holy Night, Joyeux, and Noel for Christmas, and a Give Thanks one for Fall. We are hoping to have them all ready for when we reopen and then once those are all ready to go we have a few other designs we can't wait to get printed.

Seeing how there are still a few more weeks left until we reopen we thought we would have a giveaway each week until then! This week we will be giving away this 12" by 16" Je T'aime pillow cover.

So how can you win this pillow cover?

The giveaway rules are the same as always:

All you have to do is leave a comment on this post!

You don't have to have a blog to enter, either. If you aren't a blogger, just enter a comment and then where it says "comment as" scroll down near the bottom and click on anonymous. However, if you do that, make sure to leave your e-mail address so we can confirm that you are the winner. If we draw the name of someone who doesn't leave any identifying information we will simply draw a new name. Make sure to check back here on the blog to collect your prize!

You can comment each day if you would like to up your chances!

For extra entries become a follower of our blog, twitter

and/or like our facebook page!

Just write "follower" as a second comment so it counts as an entry, and "twitter"

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Lola turned three months old last Friday! I had intended on taking and posting an updated picture of her then but that didn't happen. I have discovered that trying to coordinate pretty much anything with two small children is nearly impossible. Finally, yesterday, while Lillie was napping I was able to take a few shots really quickly before it started to rain. This one was my favorite.

I think if Jason were writing this post he would have used this quote instead of the one above:

"It sometimes happens, even in the best of families, that a baby is born. This is not necessarily cause for alarm. The important thing is to keep your wits about you and borrow some money." ~Elinor Goulding Smith

Monday, July 25, 2011

***As usual Jason's post requires a bit of a disclaimer. I would like it to be noted that except for when he took Lillie to see a movie I don't think he has ever been in charge of either child and that even while I was editing these photos for him I was bouncing a fussy Lola on my lap while he sat on the couch behind me doing absolutely nothing.*****

The advent of July brings a number of things along with it. Some of these are good, of course—like warmer weather, trips to the beach, and a handful of major sporting events. Unfortunately, July also carries a few undesirable traits. For instance, it marks the point in the golf season when it is really too late to blame your inferior swing on “rust.” It also means that you will be bombarded with “back to school” advertisements every time you visit a local retailer. However, for those of us on Moose Mountain, there is one event that occurs every July with qualities on both ends of the spectrum—the annual Holmes family descent upon our once-quiet habitat.

The first day or two of Jenni’s month-long, responsibility-free vacation is always filled with excitement over her arrival. Actually, the enthusiasm has much more to do with Lillie’s (and now Lola’s) arrival than Jenni’s, but I’m sure you already guessed that. Essentially, we all wait with bated breath to see what new things Lillie can do (at what age will this stop?), claim rights to certain activities with her, or buy her needless trinkets in hopes of become her favorite relative.

However, reality soon sets in, as each family member gradually realizes that they might be in charge of raising Lillie and Lola while their mother is off rearranging new mantels, painting fake branches, or snapping wedding pictures. Oddly enough, while one might assume this child rearing would eventually become a joint effort, the duties always manage to fall squarely on the shoulders of yours truly.

Yes, during Jenni’s annual hiatus from reality, I am forced into the roles of father figure, friend, and rule enforcer. While these are not positions that I take lightly, it is more important to stress that they are also positions I would rather not take at all.

“Jason, go get Lillie a new Playdoh set.”

“Jason, Lola is screaming. Make her stop.”

“Jason, I’m going to be gone for the afternoon… Teach Lillie how to read.”

These are just a few of the most recent instructions that I have received in regards to single-handedly raising my sister’s children. But however dreadful these tasks may be, I must admit that I would be lying if I tried to give the impression that there was no upside to these obligations. My time spent nurturing Lillie’s growth has undoubtedly led me to become her family member of preference, and while Lola can’t quite say it yet, I know she would agree. In the meantime, it would be nice if their mother would lend an occasional helping hand.

Friday, July 22, 2011

I normally just take pictures of my family so I never have any reason to be nervous about them. A week or so ago, though, I took some photos for my cousin, Michael and his beautiful bride, Dani. It POURED the day of their wedding so they didn't many photos of the two of them that they were happy with. When Dani asked me a few months ago if I could take some of them when I was up here in New Hampshire this summer I got quite excited. That was until it was time to do it - I was so nervous all day. They were going to all the trouble of cleaning up the old Model T and Dani was getting her hair done and wearing her wedding gown. All of the sudden I got completely nervous that they had gone to all of this trouble and what if I messed up and didn't get any shots or they were all blurry or didn't get the lighting right. In the end it was so much fun. They were so easy to take photos of. I am so jealous of how comfortable Dani was in front of the camera. She looked so beautiful. And Michael was such a good sport and put the hat on for us for a few shots. (We tried to get him to put on some suspenders too but couldn't come up with a good enough bribe to convince him it was worth it).

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

I am so excited to be hosting this giveaway for my sweet friend, Amy, of Evy's Tree. She is unbelievably creative and makes and sells beautiful embellished sweatshirts and t-shirts. In the last post I showed Jamie, Lillie and Lola all wearing the Lacey Zip-Up. (Jamie's was in white and Lillie and Lola were wearing the Mini Lacey in pink). I first purchased one of her hoodies for Lillie about a year and a half ago and loved it. Then last fall I got myself a grey simple and Lillie a chocolate mini simple. They are my favorites! I want one in every color. And one of the best parts of getting a hoodie is when they arrive in the mail. They are packaged beautifully and each one includes a scented sachet that makes your hoodie smell heavenly. In fact, Amy is actually having a giveaway over on her blog right now to win some of these sachets!

We are going to be giving away one of her hoodies here on our blog! The winner gets to choose the hoodie of their choice (adult or mini). How exciting is that? Scroll through these images to see some of the items that Evy's Tree offers and then enter to win below!

I absolutely love this shot of Amy and her adorable family!

Okay, so how can you enter to win this hoodie?

All you have to do is leave a comment on this post!

You don't have to have a blog to enter, either. If you aren't a blogger, just enter a comment and then where it says "comment as" scroll down near the bottom and click on anonymous. However, if you do that, make sure to leave your e-mail address so we can confirm that you are the winner. If we draw the name of someone who doesn't leave any identifying information we will simply draw a new name. Make sure to check back here on the blog to collect your prize!